“All political careers end in failure. Not all end in a punishment beating. The apparently imminent departure of Theresa May as Tory leader has seen a brutality rare even for the British Conservative party.”

“The resignation of leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom has accelerated expectations of the departure of Prime Minister Theresa May, who is set to step aside or be forced out within days.” The Prime Minister is “facing opposition throughout Parliament and even in her own cabinet.”

“Japan is beginning a major and unprecedented exercise.” Though “new immigration will help keep Japan’s economy and pension system afloat, it will inevitably introduce social strains.” Time alone will tell “whether the country’s culture and institutions will be able to learn from Europe’s experience and manage a smooth transition, or whether immigration will spark a nativist backlash that closes the country off once again.”

Despite the hubbub, “you shouldn’t expect impeachment anytime soon.” You may be certain President Trump has “already committed the ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’” necessary for impeachment, but that hurdle is “ill-defined. In the end, it amounts to ‘anything Congress thinks merits removal from office.’” This means “President Trump isn’t going to be impeached and removed from office unless the Republican Party decides it wants him gone.”

“Despite the mutual awareness of the Thucydides Trap—and the recognition that history is not deterministic—China and the U.S. seem to be falling into it anyway. Though a hot war between the world’s two major powers still seems far-fetched, a cold war is becoming more likely.”

“The Japanese economy unexpectedly grew in the first quarter of 2019 supported by government spending, although there were some worrying signs connected to the U.S.-China trade dispute.” The economic expansion (2.1% annualized) surprised economists who thought “the first-quarter figure would be flat or slightly negative.”

“Japan’s economy” looks “on course for a major downturn,” based on a survey of about 1,300 economists. “Should China’s stimulus take hold, concerns about a worsening Japanese economy may be washed away. Yet Japan is constrained not only in its monetary policy, but also in its fiscal leeway considering the heavy government debt load,” not to mention the need for major employment and social security reforms.

“The world’s most ubiquitous manmade material is also one of the atmosphere’s arch foes: Between 4 and 7 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions come from cement production.” This may be changing. A “new cement-making process that subs out some of the traditionally used limestone for a synthetic version of the mineral wollastonite” cuts emissions by approximately 70%. Moreover, “Solidia’s manufacturing process can be done in existing facilities and costs about the same as–and, perhaps soon enough, less than–traditional cement-making methods.”

“America’s net public debt is high, if not yet huge” and unless something changes “public debt will rise to 92% of GDP in 2029… and go on rising for decades.” This may not matter so much. “Though debt has grown as a share of GDP, interest payments are near their historical average” and “lower than the nominal growth rate of the economy…. In such circumstances a debt will shrink as a share of GDP over time. If the economy grows faster than interest builds up, the government could run a small deficit forever.”

“Japan plans to release 10-billion 14-digit numbers by 2021,” but the country “likely won’t be the only nation facing the problem of needing more numbers for more devices. Last year, the number of IoT devices in the world surpassed the number of mobile phones. Since 2008, there have been more connected devices on the planet than people, and by 2020 it’s predicted that there will be 50 billion connected devices globally.